Abstract
Purpose: Convened by national professional organizations, a task force representing diverse perspectives met over a 9-month period to address the nurse staffing crisis. Building on the foundational work of the Partners for Nurse Staffing Think Tank, the Nurse Staffing Task Force charge was to identify sustainable solutions to longstanding barriers to appropriate staffing.
Methods: The Task Force members represented a broad range of roles inclusive of direct care nurses, nurse scientists and health care leaders. Geographic diversity was addressed in the selection process which resulted in a team of 38 invited participants. The work was facilitated by two co-chairs, a nurse advisor, a scholar- in-residence and representatives from the convening organizations. The Task Force met virtually every three weeks. Strategies to meet the group’s charge included facilitated large group discussion, live presentations, between meeting surveys, and small group breakout sessions including an affinity exercise.
Initial outcomes of the Task Force included a definition of appropriate staffing and a guiding philosophy. Through survey responses and analysis of discussion transcripts, five key imperatives to address longstanding barriers to appropriate staffing were identified. The Task Force then worked in small groups to develop recommendations and options for action across the five imperatives. The final document represents the collective wisdom of the group. Given the diversity of views among the invited members, the Task Force did not reach consensus on every recommendation and action. Items that generated different opinions were included so that the document could offer the full range of potential paths forward.
Results: The Task Force emphasized the inextricable link between staffing and the work environment by including healthy work environment in the definition of appropriate staffing. In addition, the Task Force included Reforming the Work Environment as one of the five imperatives to address ongoing barriers to appropriate staffing. Recommendations for this imperative include: establishing empowered committees inclusive of direct care nurses to develop flexible approaches to staffing, implementing safety management systems and programs that assure the physical and psychological safety of staff, and supporting nurse leaders in their role in building healthy work environments.
Evaluation: Task Force participants responded to a survey conducted after the final meeting. The results showed that 82% of Task Force members were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their role in the work and 13% were “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied”. Participants also rated the effectiveness of the Task Force structure on a 5-point scale, and 29% selected “somewhat effective”, 50% selected “very effective” and 21% indicated “extremely effective”. The Task Force imperatives, recommendations and actions were published online as a PDF document and dissemination is ongoing.
Notes
Presenter notes available in attached slide deck.
Reference list included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Gamma Tau at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Professional Practice, Personnel Staffing and Scheduling, Workforce
Recommended Citation
Delgado, Sarah, "Reforming the Work Environment: A Staffing Task Force Imperative" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 53.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/53
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-02-18
Reforming the Work Environment: A Staffing Task Force Imperative
Washington, DC, USA
Purpose: Convened by national professional organizations, a task force representing diverse perspectives met over a 9-month period to address the nurse staffing crisis. Building on the foundational work of the Partners for Nurse Staffing Think Tank, the Nurse Staffing Task Force charge was to identify sustainable solutions to longstanding barriers to appropriate staffing.
Methods: The Task Force members represented a broad range of roles inclusive of direct care nurses, nurse scientists and health care leaders. Geographic diversity was addressed in the selection process which resulted in a team of 38 invited participants. The work was facilitated by two co-chairs, a nurse advisor, a scholar- in-residence and representatives from the convening organizations. The Task Force met virtually every three weeks. Strategies to meet the group’s charge included facilitated large group discussion, live presentations, between meeting surveys, and small group breakout sessions including an affinity exercise.
Initial outcomes of the Task Force included a definition of appropriate staffing and a guiding philosophy. Through survey responses and analysis of discussion transcripts, five key imperatives to address longstanding barriers to appropriate staffing were identified. The Task Force then worked in small groups to develop recommendations and options for action across the five imperatives. The final document represents the collective wisdom of the group. Given the diversity of views among the invited members, the Task Force did not reach consensus on every recommendation and action. Items that generated different opinions were included so that the document could offer the full range of potential paths forward.
Results: The Task Force emphasized the inextricable link between staffing and the work environment by including healthy work environment in the definition of appropriate staffing. In addition, the Task Force included Reforming the Work Environment as one of the five imperatives to address ongoing barriers to appropriate staffing. Recommendations for this imperative include: establishing empowered committees inclusive of direct care nurses to develop flexible approaches to staffing, implementing safety management systems and programs that assure the physical and psychological safety of staff, and supporting nurse leaders in their role in building healthy work environments.
Evaluation: Task Force participants responded to a survey conducted after the final meeting. The results showed that 82% of Task Force members were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their role in the work and 13% were “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied”. Participants also rated the effectiveness of the Task Force structure on a 5-point scale, and 29% selected “somewhat effective”, 50% selected “very effective” and 21% indicated “extremely effective”. The Task Force imperatives, recommendations and actions were published online as a PDF document and dissemination is ongoing.
Description
This presentation describes the Nurse Staffing Task Force. Convened through a partnership of national professional organizations, the Task Force charge was to identify strategies to address the nurse staffing crisis with sustainable long-term solutions. One of five imperatives identified by the group was "Reforming the Work Environment".